What a Crazy World
by nickysbabygirl
Summary: Nick's had a bad day and it only gets worse as the night goes on. You never really know what a crazy world you live in until it ends up on your doorstep. NS but that is later on!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Ok guys I know I just posted a story but I just have a strong urge to write, and well when I get like that then I need to write.I actually had a dream about thisstory so I needed to write it (I know isn't that weird).I hope you all like this and it will be a multi-chapter fanfic.

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Nick Stokes had been working a 419 times four and was just finishing up a triple shift. Nick wondered down the halls of the CSI Lab, finally he arrived at his destination, the break room. Nick hastily walked in and poured himself a cup of Blue Hawaiian coffee. He downed the hot steamy liquid and walked out to the parking garage.

"You have got to be kidding me" Nick asked in disbelief, "What else is going to go wrong this evening?" he asked to nobody in particular.

Nick pulled out his cell phone and called Sara

"Sidle" Sara answered sleepily

"Sara, did I wake you?" Nick questioned

Just the sound of his voice woke Sara up "No I was up, what's up"

"Do you think you could come get me, my Denali won't start"

"Sure can you give me 20 minutes"

"Yeah take your time, thanks Sara"

"See ya soon Nick, its no problem "

"See ya Sara and thanks again"

With that they hung up and Nick sat eagerly on the bench outside the lab. Finally he saw Sara's Denali pull into the front of the lab. Nick quickly gathered his stuff up and hopped into the Denali.

"Thanks again for picking me up Sar"

"No problem Nicky, you look stressed are you okay?" Sara questioned him

"Yeah just tired, I just finished a triple"

"Ouch" was all Sara could say

The pair fell into a comfortable silence until Sara pulled into his driveway.

"Thanks again Sara and I'm sorry for waking you up"

"Nick its okay, go get some sleep, I'll see you tomorrow alright"

"Alright goodnight Sara"

"Goodnight" Sara replied as Nick shut the door.

Sara pulled out of his driveway and headed home. Nick walked up his walkway and after fumbling with his keys finally managed to get the door open.

Nick decided that a nice hot shower was what he really needed. A half an hour later he emerged from the bathroom in a pair of slacks and a towel around his neck. He went into the kitchen and made himself some dinner. After he ate he sat down on his couch and turned on the television and caught the scores on ESPN.

After a couple minutes Nick thought he heard a noise, but thought he imagined it, until he heard it again.

Nick grabbed his gun from the cabinet that was by the door, and a flashlight and headed outside

"Who's out there?" Nick asked while he began to scan the front lawn

When Nick doesn't hear anything he asks again.

"Who's out there?"

Again there is silence, then Nick hears something rustling in the bushes. He slowly makes his way over to the bushes with his gun drawn.

Nick finally located where the noise was coming from and shined the light and gun into the bushes. What he saw when the flashlight illuminated the bushes shocked him.

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Want more? Let me know in a review. Thanks for reading y'all!


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N:_ WOW I am stunned I honestly did not expect that many reviews for the 1st chapter. So I would like to thank the following:

NickGilGreggoNumber1fan, MrsEads, bauerfreak, missiemeghan, KittyDoggyLover, lil-flyergirl 87, Nikky's girl,5t4c3y.

All of you have made my day so therefore this chapter is dedicated to all of you!

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_Recap: Nick has had a bad day, he goes home and hears some strange noises coming from outside and goes to investigate_

_Nick finally located where the noise was coming from and shined the light and gun into the bushes. What he saw when the flashlight illuminated the bushes shocked him._

"Oh my god" was all Nick could say when he realized what was sitting there. There on the ground sat a little girl with straight brown hair and brown eyes, with a small brown teddy bear in her hands, dirt and grime covered her entire body, she wore what looked like a dress that had seen better days. She looked up at Nick with tears in her eyes.

Nick lowered his gun and instinctively stuck his hand out to her. The child pulled back in fright and began to whimper a bit. Nick pulled his hand back and started talking to her in a soft tone hoping that it would calm the scared child.

"Its okay sweetie...don't cry I'm not going to hurt you" Nick said in a comforting tone

The child kept her eyes glued on Nick while he talked to her.

"Come on, why don't you come out of there" Nick gently probed, he extended his hand to her and was shocked when he felt her tiny little hand slip into his. He gently lead her out from the bushes and into the safe confines of his home.

Once inside Nick took the little child into the kitchen and lifted her up so that she was sitting on the bar stool. Nick gave her a quick look over before he started questioning her.

"My name is Nick, what's your name sweetie?" he asked gently

Nothing the little girl just stared at him, it was almost like she was in a trance. When she didn't answer he figured trying a different approach might get her to open up.

"What's your teddy bear's name?"

"Pancho" the little girl replied in a voice that was so small Nick had to strain to hear it.

"Really, my nickname is Pancho" Nick said in a gentle tone

The little girl gave a small smile and Nick was glad to see it.

"Are you hurt?"

The minute Nick went back to questioning her she went back into her trance like state.

"It's okay you don't have to answer me"

Nick grabbed his cell phone and dialed the Sara's number.

"Sidle" replied a very sleepy Sara

"Hey Sara it's me Nick"

"Yes Nick" Sara replied a little hastily since this was the second time in tonight that he had woke her up.

"Look Sara I am really sorry to bother you but can you come pick me up and take me to the hospital."

Sara quickly woke up at the word hospital and began the "21 questions" game with Nick

"Are you okay?...Are you hurt?... Why do you need to go to the hospital?" she asked frantically while scrambling to gather her clothes.

Nick chuckled into his phone as he heard her scramble to get her stuff together, "Relax Sara I'll explain it to you when you get here"

"Ok I'll be there as soon as I can"

"All right thanks Sara"

With that Nick hung up his phone and looked at the little girl. A couple minutes passed in complete silence until the little girl spoke up.

"Lexie" was all she said.

This surprised Nick as he glanced over at her with a smile on his face.

"Lexie" he repeated, not really sure what she was telling him, but then it dawned on him that it was her name.

"That's a very pretty name" Nick told her trying his hardest to get her to open up to him.

A couple more minutes passed and then Nick saw the headlights of Sara's Denali pull into his driveway. He heard the car door close and a couple minutes later he heard frantic knocking at the door.

"I'll be right back Lexie ok," Lexie nodded never looking away from her teddy bear.

Nick opened the door forgetting that he still didn't have a shirt on. Sara stared at him for a minute before Sara practically throw herself on him and gave him a humongous hug.

"Easy Sar" Nick said finally gaining his footing

"I'm sorry" she said as she pulled away and gave him a sheepish smile once again staring at his well defined chest. (A/N: I think all the ladies agree, don't ya ladies?)

Nick noticed her staring then realized what she was staring at and excused himself and grabbed the first clean shirt he could find.

When Nick returned with a shirt on, Sara was slightly disappointed, of course she saw him change his shirt at work but this was different now he looked just plain hot. Sara quickly pushed all those thoughts out of her mind when Nick began to talk to her.

"Come here there is someone I want you to meet" he said, while taking her hand and taking her into the kitchen.

"Oh my" was all Sara could say when she saw the little girl sitting on the bar stool.

"Lexie this is Sara, Sara this is Lexie" Nick introduced the two of them

"Hi there" said Sara

Lexie looked up and gave a small smile to Sara before turning her attention back to her teddy bear.

"Nick where did she come from?"

"I don't know I found her out in the bushes, I thought I should take her to the hospital and have her checked out, even though I can't seem to find anything wrong with her"

"Okay good thinking, come on lets go" Sara stated getting right to the point.

Nick walked into the kitchen and helped Lexie down and the trio was off to the emergency room.

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Ok that was chapter two I hope you liked it let me know please.


	3. Chapter 3

1A/N: Ok I know it has taken me some time to get this posted but after Thursday's episode my muse kinda left. I was so depressed after that episode as I am sure you all can imagine. So look for a Snicker oneshot to be coming soon. I would like to dedicate this chapter everyone who has reviewed. It really means a lot to me and believe me I have had a horrible week so all your reviews gave me peace of mind. Finally, I would like to extend a special thank you to **MrsEads** for being so supportive and **NickGilGreggoNumberOnefan **for giving me an idea that I loved and just ahd to run with.

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Sara pulled into Desert Palms Hospital about 30 minutes later. She killed the engine and stole a quick glance at Nick who was staring at a sleeping Lexie.

Nick finally looked at Sara and gave her a smile before they both exited the car. Once he was out, he opened the door to the back seat and picked up Lexie. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck.

Nick and Sara walked into the hospital, and went to the admissions desk to get checked in. Since Lexie was not in any immediate danger they had to wait in the waiting room, while Lexie slept soundly in Nick's arms.

After about two hours of waiting a nurse finally called for Lexie to come back. Nick stood up and began to walk when he noticed that Sara remained seated. He turned around and looked at her, he couldn't help but think that she was remembering all the trips she had to take to the hospital when she was younger. When Sara realized Nick was waiting she quickly hopped up and followed them into the examination room.

"My name is Tina, what seems to be the problem with Lexie?" she said, while watching Nick lay the sleeping child down on the bed.

"My name is Nick Stokes and this is Sara Sidle, we work with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. When I got home this evening I found Lexie hiding in the bushes. I gave her a quick look over and I couldn't find anything wrong, but I thought it was better to be safe than sorry, and now we're here."

Having heard the noise, Lexie slowly began to wake up. Her eyes shot open at the sound of the stranger's voice. She began to cry when she saw the strange woman coming towards her with a thermometer.

"NO!" she half shouted, half sobbed, while trying to get off the bed. Just as she was about to jump off the bed, she felt a pair of strong but gentle hands wrap around her waist and pull her back on the bed. This action scared Lexie even more as she began to fight in Nick's arms.

"Lexie, it's okay," Nick stated calmly. The minute Lexie heard his voice, she stopped struggling and began to cry even harder.

Nick looked at the nurse, who shot him a sympathetic glance and stepped away from the bed. Nick quickly gathered Lexie in his arms and rocked her back and forth.

"Shh Lexie... it's okay," Nick murmured softly.

After about ten minutes Lexie had finally calmed down. Nick pushed her back gently to look at her and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I wanna go home." Lexie said.

"I know sweetie but we have to get you checked out okay." Nick replied. In truth, Nick really wanted to take her home and let her sleep but he knew that she needed to be looked over.

"Please" Lexie begged.

"I'm sorry Lex, but we have to get you checked out, I promise it won't take long" Nick tried his hardest to keep from giving in and just taking her home.

Lexie looked up at Nick, her eyes pleading with him to take her home. Sara who had stayed relatively quiet, thought it was best to help Nick out.

"Lexie, I know you are scared, but I promise you nobody is going to hurt you, we have to make sure you are all right. Nick and I aren't going to go anywhere ok?" Sara questioned the little girl hoping that on some level her confidence would reach Lexie.

"Promise?" Lexie questioned the two of them.

"I promise Lexie"

Lexie turned and looked at Nick. Nick got what she was looking for and quickly promised her that he would not leave.

Tina stepped out from the corner once the little girl seemed to be calm again.

"Hi Lexie, my name is Tina. Can you sit on the bed for me?"

Lexie looked at Nick then Sara and after receiving nods, shook her head also. Nick helped Lexie sit back on the bed, while he and Sara sat directly behind her.

"Ok Lexie you are being such a good girl. I need to take your temperature now, so can you stick this under your tongue?" Tina asked, while showing Lexie the thermometer.

Lexie looked uncertain but agreed. After the thermometer beeped, Tina quickly read the results and disposed of the plastic covering.

"All right Lexie, can you hop down and stand on the scale?"

With a little help from Nick, Lexie hopped of the table and stood on the scale, once she was finished Nick helped her back onto the table.

"That was wonderful Lexie. Is it okay if I ask you a couple questions?"

"Yes" replied Lexie.

"Ok, well is anything hurting you?"

"My arm"

"Can you show me where at?"

Lexie carefully lifted her left arm up and pointed to a spot just below her elbow.

"Okay sweetie, is that all that hurts?"

"Yeah"

"All right Lexie the doctor will be in soon ok" Tina said, before leaving the three alone in the room.

"You did a wonderful job Lexie" Sara said, with a smile upon her face.

"I'm hungry"

"Lexie when is the last time you ate?" Nick gently probed for an answer.

"I don't remember," Lexie said, while beginning to cry from the stress of the evening.

"Ok sweetie, I am going to go see if I can find you a snack okay? Sara will stay with you while I am gone." Nick said, before he walked out into the hallway in search of a vending machine.

Meanwhile, back in the room Sara thought it would be a good time to see if Lexie could tell her anything.

"Lexie, where's your mom?" Sara asked, the small child softly.

"Sleeping" Lexie replied.

"Where is she sleeping?" Sara asked, a little confused by the child's statement.

"I don't know, grandma told me that momma was sleeping."

Sara finally understood what Lexie was trying to tell her, and started questioning her about other things.

"Well Lexie, what about your daddy?"

"I don't know where he is, he never comes around anymore."

Nick finally came back with a small bag of cookies and chips, when he entered the room Lexie's head shot up.

"Ok Lexie, this is all I could find I hope that's okay."

"Cookies" Lexie squealed with delight.

"I think she likes it Nick" Sara stated, causing Nick to chuckle.

Nick handed the bag of cookies and chips over to Lexie and watched in amazement as she nearly devoured the bags in one bite.

"Easy Lex, you got to slow down or else you are going to get a belly ache." Nick gently chided her.

Lexie gave Nick and Sara a sheepish grin and slowed down her eating. About ten minutes later a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in" Nick called back.

"Hi there, this must be Lexie" he said, while grabbing her chart and looking over it.

Lexie looked up long enough to meet the doctor's gaze then quickly turned her attention back to Nick and Sara.

"Ok Lexie, I see here that your arm is bothering you, can you show me where?" the doctor asked her.

Lexie pointed again to the spot that she showed the nurse just a few minutes ago. The doctor touched various areas of her arm, until she pulled her arm away in pain.

"Ok, it looks like we are going to have to take an X-ray."

"What's that?" Lexie asked, full of curiosity.

"That's where we take a picture of your bones and make sure everything is where they are supposed to be," the doctor explained.

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

"Nope not at all, its like getting your picture taken." the doctor gently reassured her.

About half-an-hour later another man entered the room to take Lexie for her X-ray. When Lexie was told that she would have to sit on the bed by herself, she became frightened and started to cry. Finally, Nick and Sara had managed to calm her down long enough for her to have a couple X-rays done. Once finished, the trio was taken back to their room.

Nick and Sara both noticed that Lexie was yawning and appeared to be having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

"Lexie why don't you lay down and get some sleep?" Sara asked the now barely awake child.

"Will you tell me a story?" Lexie managed to say.

"Of course" Sara said, while picking Lexie up and laying her on the bed.

Nick sat back and watched the two of them interact.

"Once upon a time there lived a very pretty girl named Cinderella. Cinderella lived with two evil step-sisters and an evil step-mother..." Sara paused and looked at Lexie who was now resting peacefully but continued the story until she finished it.

"You are really good with her Sar." Nick stated genuinely.

"She must be scared, I am just glad that she is asleep, she must be so tired."

"Sara Sidle, you amaze me."

"Why Nick?"

"I have never seen you so parental, it suits you well"

Sara blushed at his comment, then a knock sounded at the door and the doctor entered, holding the x-ray films.

"All right, well I have reviewed the x-rays, I found that there is no major damage other than, a small hairline fracture to the radius bone." the doctor said, while showing the two the fracture.

"So what do you do for that?" Nick asked.

"Well based on her age and the severity of the fracture I think the best course of treatment would be to put on a cast for a couple weeks."

"All right, but other than that is she ok?" Sara questioned the doctor.

"Other than the hairline fracture, and being a little malnourished I'd say she was in perfect health."

"Her being malnourished won't hurt her in the long run will it?" Sara asked without missing a beat. On some level Sara felt a special bond with the child.

"No, she will be perfectly fine" the doctor said to Sara.

"How long until you put the cast on?" Nick asked.

The doctor looked down at Lexie and saw that she was sleeping, he realized that they all must be exhausted.

"I'll send the nurse right in, you all must be tired." he stated

"Not really we are Crime Scene Investigators so we are used to the weird hours." Sara said, with a bright smile, as she looked at the sleeping child once again.

The doctor exited the room, giving Nick and Sara a couple minutes to themselves.

"We should wake her Nick."

"I know"

Sara gently rubbed the small child's back. After a couple minutes her eyes fluttered open.

"Time to go home?" Lexie asked.

"In a couple minutes sweetie, they need to put a cast on your arm, then we can go." Sara stated, still rubbing Lexie's back.

True to his word a nurse entered the room a couple minutes later. Lexie told her that she wanted a pink cast and the nurse complied with her wishes. 15 minutes later the trio was on their way back to Nick's.

Sara didn't quite feel ready to leave yet, so she decided she could stay and help get Lexie comfortable before heading home.

Sara decided that Lexie should have a bath before bed. While Sara was bathing Lexie, Nick grabbed a nightgown that his niece had left there the last time she came to visit. Once Sara had finished bathing Lexie, she reached outside the door and grabbed the clothes and brushed her hair.

"Are you sleepy?" Sara asked, her response was a yawn from Lexie.

"Well come on kiddo, this will be your room," Nick said, while leading her to the spare bedroom.

Nick and Sara each sat on one side of the bed and watched as Lexie drifted off to sleep. Once they were sure she was asleep, they each gave her a kiss on the cheek and turned off the light before leaving the room.

"Wow what a day." Nick sighed, as he went into the bathroom and gathered up the dirty laundry.

"You can say that again."

Just as Nick picked up Lexie's dress, he noticed something fall from the pocket. He bent down and picked it up. It was a picture, when he turned it over his face fell.

"Oh my god"

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Want to know what he saw? Let me know in a review please.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: WOW is all I can say. Thank you to everyone who has read this story and has stuck with me. I know that I don't post as often as I would like to, but I promise in two days my schedule will open up a considerable amount, seeing as how I am graduating high school. All the reviews that I have received have brought tears to my eyes. Words cannot express how grateful I am, so thanks to all of you. I would like to thank MrsEads for being my beta, I don't know what I would do without you.

A/N2: Several of you all wanted to know who was in the picture. I must say y'all had a lot of good ideas, but still I went with the idea that I gotfrom NickGilGreggoNumberOnefan. I know that I ameviland I am so sorry, but I honestly hope that you all will continue to read this.

That's enough from me, so on with the story!

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_Just as Nick picked up Lexie's dress, he noticed something fall from the pocket. He bent down and picked it up. It was a picture. When he turned it over his face fell._

"_Oh, my God."_

"Nick, what is it?" Sara asked. When he didn't respond, she became more and more frightened.

Nick looked up at Sara and a tear found its way down his cheek. Sara was becoming increasingly worried as he just stared at her.

"Rachael?" Nick questioned the picture, knowing full well that he would not get an answer back.

"Rachael..." Sara repeated, hoping that Nick would fill her in. When he didn't, she reached over and took the picture from his hands and stared at it. At first Sara didn't recognize the picture, but then she remembered Nick saying something about his sister Rachael moving to Vegas.

"Oh Nick, I am so sorry," Sara stated, willing the tears that were in her eyes to go away. Having no such luck, tears slowly made their way down both of their faces.

"Lexie is her daughter," Nick stated, still trying to get over the initial shock of the entire situation.

Just then Sara remembered the conversation she had with Lexie. She was so lost. "_What should I do?_" "_Should I tell him?_" "_What happens if I don't tell him?_," were all the thoughts that ran through her mind.

"Nick..." Sara started, hesitantly.

Nick looked at her square in the face and knew that she was holding something back from him. He hated being left in the dark, so he pressed her for an explanation. "What is it, Sara?"

"Nick, I don't know how to tell you this…but I think that Rachael is dead," Sara stated, then looked down at the floor.

"What...dead?...no…" Nick was having trouble putting together a coherent thought. This was just too much for one person to take in at one time.

"Nick, Lexie told me something..." she started, but was quickly cut off by Nick.

"What did she tell you, Sara?" Nickasked her.

"I think you should go sit down and then I'll tell you," Sara said, while leading Nick out to the living room.

They both sat on the couch, both waiting for the other to start. To Sara's disappointment, she realized that she was going to have to tell him the truth.

"Nick, Lexie told me that her grandmother said her momma was sleeping," Sara said, not daring to look in Nick's eyes. Sara remembered a case she worked a while ago. It was never solved but now Sara had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Oh no... Rachael..." Nick replied, completely breaking down and wrapping his arms around his stomach in a futile attempt to stop the pain.

Sara didn't know what to do, other than take Nick in her arms and cradle him until he calmed down. Finally, after about ten minutes, Nick calmed down and looked up at her.

"I'm sorry," Nick said, while wiping the tears from his eyes. When Sara finally met his gaze, she instantly knew that she made a mistake.

"What else Sara, what aren't you telling me?"

"Nick, that week you went on vacation, I had a case. Twenty-nine-year-old, white female, and the COD was strangulation. I never solved it, but Nick, the more I think about the way the victim looked the more I see the resemblance." Now it was Sara's turn to break down and cry.

Nick sat stunned on the one end of the couch, while Sara sat sobbing at the other end. Somewhere among the tears that were shed, Lexie had woken up and was now standing at the end of the hallway, unbeknownst to Nick and Sara.

Both Nick and Sara had their heads buried intheir arms. Neither even noticed Lexie was up, until Nick felt a tiny hand on his shoulder.

"Lexie?" Nick questioned, not looking up because he didn't want to upset her.

"Why are you crying?" Lexie asked them.

"Ummm…it's a grown-up thing, sweetie." Nick replied, while looking up at her. Lexie noticed the picture of her mother sitting next to Nick on the couch.

"Mommy," Lexie said, picking up the picture off the couch.

"Lexie, I have to ask you a question. Was your mommy's name Rachael?" Sara asked the small child.

"Yeah. Mommy told me it. I liked that name," Lexie replied, giving a small smile.

"Lexie, did your mommy ever talk about someone named Nick?" Nick asked her, afraid to hear her answer.

"Yeah, she said that she was his sister…oh, and she showed me a picture." Lexie looked up at Nick. She thought something looked familiar, but couldn't place it until now.

"She did?" Nick asked her, praying that this was all a big misunderstanding.

"It was you."

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A/N: Like it? Hate it? Let me know in a review. Thanks again for reading, I appreciate all reviews.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Okay I realize that there were gaps in the story but that is what I wanted. I really wanted to post something when I did because I had several graduation practices then an awards ceremony and then finally graduation. My life has been hectic, I thought things would open up after graduation but needless to say that hasn't happened simply because I have to get the ball rolling for college. I appreciate all of the reviews and the suggestions they meant a lot to me. I am **so** **sorry** for the long wait, but it probably would have been longer if **MrsEads** hadn't given me a reason to write a new chapter. So I think a great amount of thanks should go out to** MrsEads**.

1. Yes, to all of you that said about Nick calling Social Services, I know that with Nick being a member of law enforcement he needs to report all things of that nature, I really do. I purposely left it that way in chapter 4 so I could write chapter 5 this way. You'll see what I mean in this chapter.

2. About Nick's family not knowing about her death, I promise that I know what I am doing, though I may not seem like it at times. Again, I left it like that because I still have a couple more twists to the story that I want to put in there and you will find out why Nick's family had no idea of the death in this chapter also.

3. One more thing, it was brought to my attention that we have no idea how Lexie ended up at Nick's house or anyone's house for that matter well that will be answered in this chapter or the next one I have not decided on that yet.

Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed and given me suggestions. It means a lot to me and I hope that y'all will continue to read and review. Just so y'all know your reviews really make my day, so just know that but reviewing you are essentially making some good out of my miserable life.

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Nick sat there frozen on the couch, the words "_It was you"_ kept repeating themselves over and over again in his mind.

Sara noticed the change in Nick's demeanor and picked up Lexie and took her to the spare bedroom and put her back to sleep, figuring that Nick would want some time to himself.

_FLASHBACK_

_Nick had just walked out of the examination room in order to find some food for Lexie, when he ran into her doctor._

"_Excuse me, you are Lexie's doctor aren't you?" Nick questioned the young doctor standing at the reception desk._

"_Yes I am, Mr. Stokes_, _right?" _

"_Yeah, I was wondering do you have a phone I need to call Social Services."_

"_Of course, dial 9 to get an outside line."_

_Nick picked up the phone and dialed the number to Social Services._

"_Hello this is Maxine how may I help you?"_

"_Hi Maxine, my name is Nick Stokes, I need to report an abandoned child, I have her at the Emergency Room now."_

"_I see, all of our employees are out right now and since it is Friday night, nobody will be back in the office until Monday, do you think the child would be able to stay with you?"_

"_Yeah that will be fine just give me a call at 555-6819, whenever someone is coming to get her." _

_With that Nick said his goodbyes and hung up then went in search of food. He managed to find a vending machine then was back to Lexie's room. When she fell asleep, Nick filled Sara in about the Social Services Department said._

Nick was brought out of his reverie when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. His head snapped up at the contact, his eyes slowly began to water and tears fell from his eyes.

"Why didn't they call me?" Nick asked Sara.

"Oh Nick, when we ran her prints it came up to a Rachael Alexander, on her contacts list it said that her parents were deceased, we never looked into it."

"That was the name she had before we adopted her, I guess she changed it back after the fall out she had with my parents."

"Nicky let's not get into this now, we can go over it all tomorrow ok?" Sara asked him.

"Yeah fine, you hungry?" With everything that had happened that evening he realized that he was starving and Sara must be also.

Sara was about to refuse but when she saw the look of pure desperation on Nick's face she just couldn't.

"I could eat" she stated simply.

The two made their way into the kitchen where they made some sandwiches and ate in silence. Finally after a while Sara decided that it was time to head home.

"I really should be going," Sara said while gathering her shoes and coat.

"You could just stay Sar."

"I don't want to put you out Nick."

"You aren't putting me out. Please Sara just stay tonight, I'll take the couch."

"You don't have to take the couch this is you house after all."

"I know but please just stay." Nick practically begged her.

"All right, on one condition though."

"Name it?"

"You have to loan me something to wear."

"Done."

Nick walked into his bedroom and grabbed a shirt and a clean pair of sweats for himself and tossed Sara one of his shirts.

After they had changed Sara went to Nick's room and Nick went to the couch and laid down. Sara fell asleep almost instantly, but Nick's mind just would not stop thinking about Lexie and his sister. Finally he fell asleep.

Morning came all to soon in Sara's opinion because now she and Nick would not only have to talk about Rachael's death but they would have to take Lexie into the lab and ask her questions about her life and how she ended up at Nick's.

Sara quietly padded down the hallway but stopped short of entering the living room, she peered into the spare bedroom to find Lexie still sound asleep. She quietly closed the door and walked into the living room where she found Nick sprawled out on the couch. She decided to let him sleep a little longer and went into the kitchen to make some coffee.

"Morning" Nick's low voice boomed.

Sara jumped a little when she heard his voice. She turned around in her seat and gave Nick a half-hearted smile.

"Morning to you too."

"We have a lot to talk about today don't we?" Nick asked, although he already knew the answer.

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Ok that was chapter five I left it here for many reasons. Thanks for reading I hope you'll leave me some reviews.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Okay well thanks to everyone who reviewed. For this chapter I did things a bit differently. I know how long it takes me to update sometimes so I talked with **MrsEads** and let her write this chapter. I have to say that she did a wonderful job. I feel that a big **THANKS **should go out to **MrsEads** because if it were me writing this chapter I would have **NOT** gotten it posted this soon.

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"So, we still haven't been able to get it out of Lexie where she came from. I mean, how did she get here? It's not easy for a girl her age to take a cab or something like that, you know," Sara said, sitting down at the table in Nick's kitchen.

"Well, have you just asked her?" Nick asked. "I haven't."

"Well, no," Sara admitted. "We'll have to ask her when she wakes up."

A beep from the coffee maker told them the coffee was ready, and Sara stood up to pour two cups. She was having a bit of trouble with it, though, as she couldn't get the carafe out. "Nick, it's stuck or something; I can't get it out," she said.

He stood up and joined her. "That's because there's a button here that you have to press." He stood behind her and placed his warm hand over hers as he pushed the latch at the top of the handle and pulled the carafe out.

"Thanks," she said. "Umm, where's the cream and sugar?"

"I'll get it," Nick said, opening the fridge for the cream and reaching into the cupboard next to it for the sugar. Sara opened a few cupboards until she found the mugs, and pulled down two of them without looking at them. Nick placed the cream and sugar on the counter next to the mugs.

"How do you take it?" she asked.

"Cream, no sugar," he said. "It's okay, I'll do it," he offered.

"No, you sit down. I know how to do it," she said, almost like an independent child would when offered help.

"Alright, alright," he said, raising his hands in surrender as he backed towards the table, sitting down.

A moment later, she brought the mugs over and handed one to Nick.

"Hey, you picked my favourite one," he said, pointing at his mug. Sara peered closer at it and saw that it was a mug with a picture of a bunch of people. Looking closer still, she saw that it was Nick's family, probably taken before Rachael's falling out with their parents. Nick had his arms around his mom and a sister and was smiling his crinkly smile. Sara thought he must have smiled a lot as a child to have all those laugh lines. His dad looked stern. Probably was an old-fashioned dad, Sara assumed. None of his sisters looked alike, and neither did Nick to his brother. They were outside, on the front porch of a house or something, and you could just tell it was a hot day.

"You don't look like any of your siblings," she commented.

"No, we were all adopted," he revealed.

"Really?" Sara asked in shock.

"Yeah," he said, taking a sip of his coffee. "Rachael's older than me, but I was adopted first. See, she was actually a foster child living with us for a while, but then my parents adopted her officially after they did me."

"How old were you?" Sara asked.

He shrugged. "When I was adopted? I was adopted at birth, but when we adopted Rachael…hmmm…apparently, I was young enough not to remember anymore."

Sara nodded. Just then, they heard soft shuffling coming from down the hall. "I guess Sleeping Beauty's up."

They turned to face the end of the hall, and sure enough, Lexie came out of her room and approached them.

"Hi, Lexie," Nick said. "Did you have a good sleep?"

She nodded and rubbed her eyes.

Nick patted the empty chair next to him and said, "Have a seat." Lexie plodded her way over and plopped down on the chair. "What do you want for breakfast?" Nick asked her.

She shrugged. Apparently, she still wasn't too talkative.

"Would you like eggs?" Nick offered. Lexie shook her head. "Toast?" he tried again. Still, Lexie shook her head. "Pancakes?" Lexie's eyes lit up and she nodded her head vigorously. Nick stood up and began to pull things out of cupboards, thinking that maybe once they got some food into the little girl, she'd open up to them.

He was right. As he placed a plate with a few pancakes on it in front of her, he found out that Lexie was all too eager to tell them everything they wanted to know, all with her mouth full. Meanwhile, Nick made pancakes for he and Sara.

"So, how did you get here?" Nick asked.

"Momma showed me your house once. I have a good memory," she said proudly. "And our house isn't too far away, so I walked here. But I had to go through the ravine, and I got all muddy."

Nick was shocked to hear that this little girl trekked through the ravine at that time of night alone to his house. "That was very dangerous, Lexie. You shouldn't do that kind of thing," he scolded.

Lexie hung her head in shame. "I know," she said, "but I had to get here."

"How come?" Nick asked. It had been quite a while since Rachael had died, so there was no real urgent reason for her to come to his house.

"Because there was a strange man in my house," she explained. "Momma told me not to talk to strangers, so I ran away."

"There was a strange man in your house?" Nick exclaimed. "Did he try to hurt you?"

"I don't think he saw me," she explained.

Nick was relieved. "I'm so glad you're okay," he said. Now the CSI in him was coming out. "What did he look like?"

"He had a tattoo on his arm."

"What was it a picture of?" Nick asked. Tattoos could be one of the best identifying marks.

"It was a heart and it had my Momma's name in it, but it was crossed out," she said.

Nick exchanged a knowing glance with Sara. This man could be Lexie's father.

Lexie continued, "He had brown hair and it was this long." She held her hand up near the top of her ear to show them what she meant. "And he was really tall," she added.

"Was he taller than Nick?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, like this much taller than Nick," Lexie said, holding her hands out about six inches.

"Was he fat or skinny?" Sara asked.

"Really really skinny," Lexie informed them. "And his nose was just like Sara's, but more man-ish," she added.

Nick and Sara were surprised at how well she was describing this man. Lexie was right, she did have a good memory.

"Lexie, we have quite a few friends who would be very interested in hearing this story. Would you come tell them what you told us?" Nick asked, referring to his coworkers at CSI.

Lexie nodded as she took another bite of pancakes.

Just then, the phone rang. Standing up to get it, Nick picked the phone up off the hook and said, "Hello?…Yes, I still have her…Alright…Can we meet you at the Las Vegas Crime Lab in forty-five minutes?…Sounds good…Okay, thank you." Nick hung up the phone and said to Sara, "That was Social Services. They want us to meet them at CSI in forty-five minutes to give them Lexie."

Sara nodded. "I have to get home and change, then," she said.

"Can you take her with you?" Nick asked. When Sara raised an eyebrow curiously, he explained, "Grown male, little girl, alone…it just doesn't look good, that's all."

"Oh, come on, Nick. You'd never do something like that," Sara pointed out.

"I know that, and you know that, but Social Services might not see it that way," Nick said.

"Oh, sure then," Sara said. "Lexie, come on, sweetie, we're going to go to my house, okay?"

The three of them went to the entry and as Sara and Lexie prepared to leave, they thanked Nick for his hospitality and for breakfast.

"Don't mention it," Nick said. "It was my pleasure to dine with two such lovely ladies," he added, smiling.

"Well, thanks again," Sara said, blushing. "We'll meet you at CSI later."

"Yeah, see you then," Nick said. As the two ladies left, Nick closed the door behind them and sighed. He looked around his entryway and kitchen and sighed.

Sitting down at the table with a cordless phone in his hand, he dialled his parents' number, prepared to give them the bad news about Rachael.

"_Hello?_" Jillian answered.

"Hi, Mom," Nick said with obvious sadness in his voice.

"_Nick…what's the matter?_"

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